The chairman of the European Sports Security Association (ESSA), the private sector’s betting integrity body, said this week that corrupting sporting events requires “individual players, officials or club directors to be directly involved” and that “it is that truth that the sports federations should face up to rather than blaming the betting industry.”

The comments were made by Mike O’Kane, business director at Ladbrokes and chairman of ESSA, and follow Europol’s announcement that “425 match officials, club officials, players, and serious criminals, from more than 15 countries, are suspected of being involved in attempts to fix more than 380 professional football matches” in Europe alone, with another 300 suspected cases identified in Africa, Asia, South and Central America.

Addressing an audience, including representatives from operators, regulators and sporting bodes, at a seminar on match-fixing at London’s ICE Expo this week, he stated that football needed to “get its house in order”...